(WWJ) A high-profile lawsuit is targeting the federal government and several major defense contractors over military support for Israel.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit by the Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL), was brought on behalf of 17 U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who own property in Lebanon.
The lawsuit alleges that their property has been indiscriminately destroyed by the Israeli military through the financial backing of the U.S. government and major defense contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Caterpillar.
While human rights concerns surround the conflict, the suit on its face functions essentially as a property damage claim regarding impacted property in Lebanon.
Central to the lawsuit is the Leahy Law (or Leahy Amendment), introduced in 1997 by then-U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. The law prohibits the U.S. government from providing any military aid, assistance, or training to foreign security units linked to gross violations of human rights. The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. government failed to enforce this law by continuing assistance despite credible information regarding human rights violations.
"Our complaint alleges that the United States government has failed to properly enforce the Leahy Law and continued assistance despite credible information concerning gross violations of human rights," said ACRL Chairman Nasser Beydoun, whose organization is also named in the suit. "It also seeks to provide hold private corporations accountable for their alleged role supplying the means of the destruction."
The ACRL argues that military equipment supplied by U.S. contractors has been used indiscriminately to attack communities in Lebanon.
Nabih Ayad, lead counsel for the ACRL, stressed the role of the judicial branch in addressing the issue.
"We have three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judiciary. We know that some of them are running rampant on two out of the three," Ayad said. "We're praying for the judiciary to stand up, and we've seen them stand up in crisis throughout this nation's history. And we're asking the judiciary to stand up to do the right thing under these crisis that we're facing right now. The world is watching."
